Durbin Statement On Chief Justice Roberts Declining To Testify Before The Judiciary Committee Regarding Supreme Court Ethics

Statement

"The Senate Judiciary Committee will proceed with our May 2 hearing, which will review common sense proposals to hold Supreme Court justices to, at minimum, the same ethical standards and baseline level of accountability that bind the rest of the federal judiciary and the executive and legislative branches. I extended an invitation to the Chief Justice, or his designate, in an attempt to include the Court in this discussion. But make no mistake: Supreme Court ethics reform must happen whether the Court participates in the process or not.

I am surprised that the Chief Justice's recounting of existing legal standards of ethics suggests current law is adequate and ignores the obvious. The actions of one Justice, including trips on yachts and private jets, were not reported to the public. That same Justice failed to disclose the sale of properties he partly owned to a party with interests before the Supreme Court.

It is time for Congress to accept its responsibility to establish an enforceable code of ethics for the Supreme Court, the only agency of our government without it."

Source